Knight Community Information Challenge

The Knight Community Information Challenge helps community and place-based foundations play leading roles in meeting their community’s information needs.

Knight Foundation started the initiative in 2008 as seismic shifts in the media industry became apparent and community leaders searched for ways to help keep people informed about important issues. The effort built on recommendations from the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy on how to better meet local information needs – including rethinking public media, expanding the reach of broadband access and increasing digital and media literacy.

Knight Foundation encouraged community foundations to step into the debate and find and fund solutions. For five years, culminating in 2013, the foundation offered matching funding for news and information projects through an open contest, with 100 projects receiving support. From 2014 to 2016, we focused on helping four successful projects scale and share their insights. Learn more about those efforts through the articles below, Stay tuned for the next iteration of the Knight Community Information Challenge.